I remember driving to Florida for a holiday break with a friend a long time ago. As teenagers with no income of our own, we decided to drive through the night without stopping. What we saved in hotel expenses, we more than made up for in memories.
Part of any such right of passage are the life lessons that come with the ride. My college road trip accelerated my love for coffee while, at the same time resulted in my zero-tolerance policy for the Best of Bread album.
Everybody probably has a road trip horror story of their own to share. One where everything that could go wrong does. Great road trips however are less about what happens to us (thankfully) and more about the people we journeyed with along the way. The long haul offers us the time, miles and opportunity to get to know someone… to go deep in conversation or to grow comfortable riding together in silence.
Agency Relationships can be like Road Trips
When I think of the best agency/client relationships, I am reminded of that road trip with my friend. Where one of us agreed to navigate and the other drive.… or our negotiated rotation regarding who controls the playlist.
Road trip buddies, like clients and agencies, enjoy each other, keep each other up and help each other stay focused on the road ahead. When working in sync, both parties feel enabled to drive further, faster.
Productive client-agency relationships are not simply born of two organizations that find each other. Their productivity and effectiveness results from a deeper understanding of what is important to each other. They are connected and aligned. For companies and their agencies sporting large numbers of people working in teams this alignment is critical, and great outcomes can be attributed to the dynamics of organizational culture and cultural fit. Healthy and Connected cultures are powerful.
Better GPS ~ Use Culture Data to Connect People and Teams
Finding and connecting to the right agency partners to help brands navigate their future is no small feat. Sure there are lots of choices of agencies eager to come along for the ride. Finding those agencies that will collaborate as a true partner requires a higher level of intent and due diligence than a Zoom call and round of RFPs will allow.
ROJEK has built a proprietary model using cultural assessment data to help clients find, evaluate and structure the agency relationships that will drive faster and further, and grow in value over time.
The CultureFit™ model used for establishing new relationships can also re-frame the current agency roster relationships and foster the longer drives where so much more value is gained.
Leaders Measure what Matters
Here are several ways using our cultural assessment tools and data can improve team performance and level set resources heading into the new year:
- Make The Intangible Tangible – Find out what is important to your people, how they experience the current organizational culture, and how they would like to improve team interactions. Continuous improvement opportunities translate into specific team goals.
- Build Cohesion & Growth – Create a framework where people are open to sharing, with meaningful data and insights to create a deeper dialogue.
- Identify Shadows/Limitations – Learn what factors are limiting the performance of current teams and partnerships, preventing people from feeling engaged and present, and reaching their full potential.
- Lean into VALUES JUMPS – Learn which values are emerging as most important to the members of your group after a challenging year; use the data to shape a definitive action plan for change.
- Find the Agency that Fits – Find new supplier relationships to refresh strategy and fill resource gaps; hit the ground running with seamless integration and transition plans that result from culturally aligned organizations destined to work well together.
- Partnership ALIGNMENT – Measure the cultural data profiles from key partners to improve agency roster integration and communication.
- Shepherd and Track Progress – Cultural data can be measured, tracked and used to measure improvement and changes over time.
Like every road trip, marketing is a worthy adventure that often comes with unexpected curves along the way. ROJEK helps brands and their agencies journey together, culturally connected and aligned for superior performance.
For a confidential conversation on how ROJEK can help define and align the partner set that ensures cultural fit with commercial success, click here.
